N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 4 § 28-2.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 25, June 18, 2024

Section 28-2.1 - Sick leave

(a) Effective January 1, 1986, this section shall apply to all appointees not subject to the provisions of section 28-1.3 of this Part.

(b) Sick leave is absence with pay necessitated by the illness or disability of the employee, including illness or disability caused by pregnancy or childbirth.

(c) Employees who are on the payroll on the date on which sick leave credits are otherwise to be granted shall be entitled to eight days of sick leave credits for each 12 months of service up to a total of 200 days. Effective January 1, 2000, up to 200 days of such credits may be used to pay for health insurance in retirement in accordance with section 167(4) of the Civil Service Law. Such sick leave shall be credited as follows:

(1) Four days of sick leave credits upon completion of six months of State service and four days of such credits following completion of each six additional months of State service; provided, however, that any eligible employee electing to participate in the Income Protection Plan pursuant to Part 78 of this Title (President's Regulations) shall immediately receive four days of such sick leave credit on the effective date of such election.

(2) Part-time employees shall be granted sick leave credits not to exceed four days following completion of each six months of State service which credits shall be prorated based on the percentage of full-time service such employee is scheduled to work on each sick leave grant date.

(3) Employees who are not in pay status on a date on which such sick leave would otherwise be credited, shall be entitled to receive such sick leave credit on the date they return to pay status and the date on which such sick leave credits are to be thereafter credited shall be revised accordingly.

(d) An employee absent on sick leave shall notify the appropriate supervisor of such absence and the reason therefor on the first day of such absence and within two hours after the beginning of the employee's workday; provided, however, that where the work is such that a substitute may be required, the appointing authority may require earlier notification, but not more than two hours prior to the beginning of the employee's workday. Sick leave credits may be used in such units as the appointing authority may approve, but the appointing authority shall not require that sick leave credits be used in units greater than one-quarter hour.

(e) Before absence for personal illness may be charged against accumulated sick leave credits, the appointing authority may require such proof of illness as may be satisfactory to it, or may require the employee to be examined, at the expense of the department or agency, by a physician designated by the appointing authority. In the event of failure to submit proof of illness upon request, or in the event that, upon such proof as is submitted or upon the report of medical examination, the appointing authority finds that there is not satisfactory evidence of illness sufficient to justify the employee's absence from the performance of his/her duties, such absence may be considered as unauthorized leave and shall not be charged against accumulated sick leave credits. Abuse of sick leave privileges shall be cause for disciplinary action.

(f) The appointing authority may require an employee who has been absent because of personal illness, prior to and as a condition of return to duty, to be examined, at the expense of the department or agency, by a physician designated by the appointing authority, to establish that such employee is not disabled from the performance of his/her normal duties and that the return to duty will not jeopardize the health of other employees.

(g) In addition to personal illness of the employee, the following types of absence when approved by the appointing authority, may be charged against accumulated sick leave credits: illness or death in the employee's family, provided, however, that charge for such absence shall not exceed a maximum of 15 days in any one year; absence of an employee certified by an examining physician as benefiting from the use of a service animal in performing major life activities, or who is registered with the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped as legally blind, or certified by an examining physician or licensed optometrist as legally blind, as manifested by visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction or a visual field of 20 degrees or less, or who has a hearing impairment manifested by a speech discrimination score of 40 percent or less in the better ear with appropriate correction as certified by an examining physician or by a licensed audiologist or otorhinolaryngologist, for the purpose of obtaining a guide dog or service animal and required training related thereto; provided, however, that charge for such absence shall not exceed a maximum of 26 days in any one calendar year; and personal visits to a doctor or dentist. Proof of the need for such absence, satisfactory to the appointing authority, may be required.

(h) When an employee is transferred, such employee's accumulated sick leave credits shall also be transferred. When an employee is separated from service for other than disciplinary reasons and is subsequently reinstated or reemployed within one year after such separation, or is reinstated by action of the State Civil Service Commission, or is reinstated or reemployed while eligible for reinstatement from a preferred list, sick leave credits accumulated and unused at the time of separation shall be restored; provided, however, that such sick leave credits shall not be restored except where leave records satisfactory to the appointing authority and the Department of Civil Service are available.

(i) Every per diem and hourly paid employee employed on a full-time basis appointed on or after January 1, 1986, with no creditable State service prior to such date as defined in section 28-1.3(a)(1) of this Part shall, on the date such employee becomes subject to these rules, be granted four days of sick leave credits and that date shall become one of the employee's sick leave grant dates; provided, however, a per diem or hourly paid employee initially appointed on or after January 1, 1986, who is given anticipated eligibility shall be granted sick leave in accordance with subdivision (c) of this section.

(j) Every per diem and hourly paid employee employed on a part-time basis appointed on or after January 1, 1986, with no creditable State service prior to such date as defined in section 28-1.3(a)(1) of this Part shall, on the date such employee becomes subject to these rules, be granted sick leave credits not to exceed four days, which credits shall be prorated based on the percentage of full-time service such employee is scheduled to work on the grant date, and that date shall become one of the employee's sick leave grant dates; provided, however, a per diem or hourly paid employee initially appointed on or after January 1, 1986, who is given anticipated eligibility shall be granted sick leave in accordance with subdivision (c) of this section.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 4 § 28-2.1